Oscar winners slipping at the box office — 2013

2005 marked the first time since 1996 that the Best Picture winner did not gross at least $100 million, the first time since 1985 that not one of the Best Picture nominees grossed at least $100 million, and the first time in living memory that the Best Picture winner was not one of the Top 25 films of its year. In fact, the winner that year — Crash — grossed a mere $54.6 million and ranked way, way down at #49.

Ever since then, the Oscar for Best Picture has alternated between relatively big hits and somewhat smaller box-office performers.

In 2006, the Oscars went back in a more “popular” direction, by giving the top prize to The Departed, which grossed $132.4 million and ranked #15 for the year.

In 2007, the Oscars went “arthouse” again, by giving the top prize to No Country for Old Men, which grossed $74.3 million and ranked #36 for the year. (Ironically, the only nominee that year to gross over $100 million was also an “independent” film, namely Juno.)

In 2008, the Oscars went “popular” again, by giving the top prize to Slumdog Millionaire, which, despite being an “independent” film and a quasi-foreign one to boot, wound up grossing $141.3 million and ranking #16 for the year.

In 2009 (which marked the first time since the 1940s that the Academy allowed for up to ten Best Picture nominees), the Oscars went “arthouse” again, by giving the top prize to The Hurt Locker, a film that grossed a mere $17 million and ranked #116 for the year — easily the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner of my lifetime (and its grosses would seem even lower if we adjusted ticket prices for inflation!).

In 2010, the Oscars went “popular” again, by giving the top prize to The King’s Speech, which grossed $135.5 million and ranked #18 for the year.

In 2011, the Oscars went “arthouse” again, by giving the top prize to The Artist, which grossed a mere $44.7 million and ranked #71 for the year.

In 2012, the Oscars went “popular” again, by giving the top prize to Argo, which grossed $110.3 million and ranked #22 for the year.

And now, it is time for the nominees of 2013 — and if today’s nominations are anything to go by, the Academy is currently wavering between a “popular” nominee, American Hustle, and an “arthouse” nominee, 12 Years a Slave. Here are the current grosses and box-office rankings for the nine Best Picture nominees, as of yesterday: